Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) recently lend an i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) unit to Visayan Electric Company (VECO) for demo purposes. VECO is the second largest electric utility in the Philippines. It serves the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, Naga and four municipalities of the greater part of Metro Cebu - Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando.

Under the demo program, VECO will study and evaluate the behavior and performance of Mitsubishi Motors’ zero emission pure electric car i-MiEV, via actual usage on Cebu roads. This will also enable VECO to make an assessment on the power requirements including cost and other technical related issues. This cooperation also aims to provide better knowledge, awareness, and appreciation on the EV technology.

“We are pleased to cooperate with VECO on the evaluation of our i-MiEV, pure electric car.” Mr. Froilan Dytianquin said. He added that VECO will be able to use the car and understand its performance and charging requirements. We are also hoping that we can include VECO as one of our partners in raising awareness of the public that pure electric vehicles in addition to being environment friendly, can be viable for daily use.

The i-MiEV is an ultimate eco-car which was launched by Mitsubishi Motors in 2009. Aside from being environmentally friendly, the i-MiEV is also very economical since the cost per kilometer to drive the i-MiEV is one third of a comparable gasoline vehicle. With its zero carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions, thei-MiEV makes a valuable contribution to climate protection which also made it to be the recipient of the “Environment Special Grand Prize” at the 25th International Automobile festival in Paris. i-MiEV is now selling in many countries and regions all over the world, including Japan, Europe, Hong Kong, Australia, Estonia and in the United States and Canada.